CLEMSON -- Tuesday morning Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney held his first news conference of the season.
The No. 14-ranked Tigers are nearing their Saturday showdown with No. 1 UGA at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.
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The following is an abbreviated transcript of Tuesday's presser.
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OPENING STATEMENTS: "We are excited to see our kids play. We had a good camp. It's been a lot of fun to prepare. For the most part, we are a pretty healthy team which is a real positive for us coming out of camp. We have one goal and that is to find a way to achieve our first goal. It's going to be a huge challenge. Usually you get opportunities like this in the postseason, but this one happened to be on our schedule right out of the gate. If someone doesn't think they're the best team in the country, they haven't paid attention. Kirby Smart has done a tremendous job.
"On offense, they have a Heisman quarterback who is a very good player. They have lost two games in three years. They're very physical on both sides of the ball. You have to be able to match that. By nature of scheme, you have to win competitive plays. Their quarterback is a very good player. He's accurate and opportunistic with his legs and really understands their scheme. He's a great vertical thrower. Their line, there's probably none better in the country. Big, strong, backs and a lot of skill on the edges. No. 11 is probably as fast a guy as we'll see. We recruited him out of high school. It's a complete group on that side of the ball.
"On the defensive side, they're big, long, athletic, they have pass-rushers and they're very talented. You live on third and long with these guys, it's a tall task. No. 24 is one of the best safeties in the country. They're Georgia. They have a few new faces but they all look the same. They're all strong, physical, they're fast and talented. That's why they're the top team in the country. We have to play well right out of the gate to have a chance. We won't have to wait long on Saturday."
Q: They lost a lot of production to the NFL. How do you expect them to replace their offensive production?
SWINNEY: "They have a lot of talent. They lost Bowers but they've got Delp. We recruited him. They're loaded at back, they brought in Etienne, they have a lot of great players. They've recruited very well. They've got Branson Robinson. Go take a picture of him in pregame. We recruited him out of Mississippi.
"Openers are always hard. Tackling is at a premium. You get more live football in high school. We don't get that in college. Against a bunch like this, by nature of who their blockers are, tackling will be critical in this game. They lost some skill, but they have all kinds of guys. They're Georgia."
Q: It's been a long camp and you've had a lot of time to prepare. Do you change your preparation schedule at all this week?
SWINNEY: "No, you try to create the game week routine. It'll be different next week when you have five days to prepare for an opponent. With this particular week, you have things you need to get done. It won't be quite as long as it will be next week."
Q: Jeadyn Lukus and Shelton Lewis, their status?
SWINNEY: "Everybody right now is ready to go. They're good to go until you hear otherwise. Everybody is day to day."
Q: Where does your kicking competition stand?
SWINNEY: "Hauser is going to be the kicker. He won the job in camp."
Q: How is Trevor Etienne different than his brother?
SWINNEY: "He's more similar than not. He breaks tackles. He's fast. He might be thicker. They're both great players."
Q: What did you see from Hauser in camp?
SWINNEY: "More went through the uprights than the other guy. It's not subjective. It's just cut and dry. Now, that could change next week but he clearly won the job. It's not like it was tied. It was for awhile but then he separated. Robert Gunn will be our kickoff guy, so they will both play.
"I've played a lot of true freshmen. I've started true freshmen at every position. He's earned the right to go do it. He's around 80-percent+ and has had a good camp. He's the all-time high school field goal leader, so he has made a bunch of them. He's just continuing to do what he's done his whole life. We've tried to create as much pressure on him as we could. He's been here since January. We signed him to come in here and compete."
Q: Are there any questions about your team that you still have that you have get answered before Saturday?
SWINNEY: "No. I know our team. I know what our strengths are and I know where we have to be smart. I just want us to go play. Sooner or later you have to get going and you have to go play. It's a long season. You coach and you teach and you learn every week. You start getting results and feedback on exactly where you are win or lose."
Q: Where are you at running back behind Phil Mafah?
SWINNEY: "They're going to have opportunities to play. It all starts with Mafah. To be determined as we go throughout the year. I think all of those guys will help us. I don't see a situation where any of them don't get a chance. I like what I've seen from all of them. We have gone as far as we can go in practice. We have to get to game day now."
Q: With a game of this magnitude, do you get a sense of a different buzz in the building this week?
SWINNEY: "Oh yeah. We get 12 Saturdays where we know we're playing. You spend all year preparing, training, running, practicing and competing against each other. It's finally here. You can't wait to get up and get to work. If you're a football guy, it never gets old. It's fun. When it's finally here, it's fun because there is so much that goes into it. Everybody loves football in this country and it's awesome to be a part of something that people are so passionate about. I'm excited for us to play a great opponent."
Q: Have you figured out how much you will use in-helmet communication?
SWINNEY: "We will use it every play. It is an advantage. Maybe there are a few times where you signal something. There may be a couple of tempo things where you will use signals. I think it's good, though. It's great. It's been a long time coming. I don't know what took so long for it to get here. I think it's great because you can alert your quarterback to some things. We've had fun with it all through camp. It eliminates a step from having to signal. You can huddle a little bit more if you're worried about protecting signals. Just situational awareness, alerts, certain plays ... we'll benefit from it. It's an opportunity for little reminders."
Q: How has the opportunity for all of your analysts and staffers being able to coach now helped you this off-season?
SWINNEY: "It's a game changer and an equalizer. A lot of that has been going on across the country anyway. It's great. It has been a lot of fun. It has created a lot of intensity and focus and more efficiency with your practice. Scout work, group work, team work ... it creates opportunities for guys to build their resumes. Another big benefit will be the development of your young players. Now any of those staffers can meet with our players, so it's a big advantage. It's fun to see all these guys coach. A lot of them have been waiting on their opportunities."
Q: No No. 1 team has lost an opening game since 1990. Do you use that as motivation?
SWINNEY: "Sure. I was a sophomore for Alabama then. Woody McCorvey still had black hair then. That's a long time ago. But yeah, it is what it is. There's a reason why, too. Most of the time everybody can figure out who the top team is out of the gate. It's a great opportunity for us."
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Q: Your assessment of Cade's confidence now?
SWINNEY: "He's very confident. He goes against a bunch of good people in practice everyday. Our practices aren't easy. A majority of your time in football is who you practice against. He goes against great players. He has grown. It has made him better. He grew a lot last year in how he finished and he carried that over into the off-season. What we need to see from him on Saturday is what we have seen in practice ... be opportunistic with his legs, take care of the ball, continue to be a leader and let it rip."
Q: What challenges does Carson Beck present?
SWINNEY: "He's really smart, very accurate and knows where everyone is. He picks his spots and will use his legs. They can slow you down with him in the run game. He finds underneath players. He doesn't put the ball in jeopardy a whole lot. He's a very good player. He's got a live arm. He's a great one."
Q: How much more comfortable is Cade in the zone read game?
SWINNEY: "Much more. That was an area last year where he needed to grow. The first half of the season there were too many TFLs where he didn't make the right decision. Being decisive within the scheme ... it was something we needed to see coming off last sesason. He has shown improvement. If he'll carry things we've seen over to game day, he'll have a great year."
Q: Why no Monday depth chart this year? Is that because UGA didn't release one?
SWINNEY: "Just so y'all would have to ask ... so they have to buy subscriptions to the Tiger websites and get the inside scoop from Larry."
Q: Have you looked at their losses over the last three seasons?
SWINNEY: "Yeah. It was a short list. Alabama won the line of scrimmage and made some competitive plays. And one game there was a critical turnover. Alabama just made two more plays that you have to make to beat an opponent like this. The last time we played UGA, there was one play."
Q: Ball security was an issue for you last year. Do you see that improving this off-season?
SWINNEY: "Hopefully we are more mature, more experienced and we have worked really hard at it just like we did last year. Hopefully the maturity and experience factor will show up for us. That's definitely an area where we have to be better. We were really, really poor in ball security last year and not just with turnovers where they happened were catastrophic ... in the red zone. It's deflating and so costly. Hopefully when this season is over that is an area where we are much improved."
Q: Do you expect more red than orange or more orange than red in Atlanta?
SWINNEY: "I don't know what the ticket breakdown was or if there was backdoor funneling to UGA fans. We'll have a ton of fans there and UGA will have a ton of fans there. It'll be a great crowd. We're not getting to open at home where you know what you can expect. It'll be loud right out of the gate. This is a great defense, too. They do a lot of movement and pressures, so being able to be on the same page with your cadence, that is a challenge. So you have to practice that and work hard at it. You have to create as much unrealistic noise as possible in practice. Executing in that kind of environment is always a challenge."
Q: How do you feel about your depth at defensive tackle?
SWINNEY: "Good. We have three really good veteran players. I look at all three as starters. They'll play that way in Cape, Payton and Tre. And we have some younger guys who need to be dudes for us by the end of the year. Burley is a talented player. Green is a talented player and we like them a lot. We signed Hevin and we signed Champ. It's a good group of young guys. Thankfully we don't need those young guys to run out there right now."
Q: How have you seen Sammy Brown's learning curve evolve this off-season?
SWINNEY: "It's been good. You could tell in the spring it was a lot for him ... more scheme than he had to deal with growing up. There was a lot thrown at him purposely in the spring. Physically, he was ready to go when he got here. He's big, strong and fast and can jump. He's near the top in almost every category. He's just a winner and a great, great, kid. It has slowed down for him. He put the work in from the spring and got better in camp. He has put himself in a good spot to help us and be a backup there. Hopefully we'll have some good fortune with key guys staying healthy."
Q: Did you miss your live interaction with fans on your call-in show last night?
SWINNEY: "I was hoping you'd call in. I checked for your text and didn't see it. It was good to get back going. Hopefully we'll have more topics getting covered."
Q: People think that the call from Tyler in Spartanburg brought about the change.
SWINNEY: "That's what people will assume and that was brought up. Internally they had been talking about changing the format for awhile ... being able to take more questions and talking more ball. That certainly didn't help the cause, that's for sure. But it's all good, man. Tyler is a great Clemson man and always will be."
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